The principle of treatment is to expel Wind and promote the movement of Qi and blood by scattering the stagnation. This results in vital energy (Qi) and the blood to stagnate causing the inability of the facial muscles to relax and therefore contract (Wolfe 2003). Wind is thought to take advantage of the deficiency (weakness) a patient is experiencing and enters the body attacking the sinews and vessels in the area of the face. In Chinese Medicine, Wind is said to be the carrier of 1,000 diseases. The main pattern differentiation is a Wind invasion due to emptiness of the Channels (Maclean and Lyttleton 1998). This protocol essentially returns the face back to normal in one-third the time of any other treatment I have seen for this disorder.īell's Palsy (Zhong Feng) is considered a Wind Attack or External Wind Stroke attack. This form of acupuncture stops pain, relaxes the facial paralysis, brings the feeling back through the nerve endings, stops the drooling and tearing and helps the eye close again. I have found that approximately 12-14 treatments are needed to return the face back to its normal look and feel. This effectively stimulates the facial nerves on a deeper level than TENS, electro-pads or anti-viral medications alone.
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My choice of protocol is electro-stimulation acupuncture. I treat Bell's Palsy in my practice all the time, as acupuncture gets incredible results. The longer a person goes without treatment, the longer the recovery time. Treatment started with a week of the event, can improve the symptoms with 6 visits with complete recovery and normal facial symmetry within 12 -14 visits.
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The odds with electrostim-acupuncture are much higher. In a few cases, the symptoms may never completely disappear. For some, however, the symptoms may last longer. With the Western Medicine approach of drug treatment, most patients begin to get significantly better within 3-4 weeks, and about 80 percent recover completely within 3 months. The prognosis for Bell's palsy is generally very good. Some physicians may prescribe a corticosteroid drug to help reduce inflammation and an analgesic to relieve pain. Other treatments are usually aimed at protecting the eye from drying at nighttime. This is now the protocol of choice for Western doctors. In Western medicine, recent studies have shown that steroids are probably effective and that the drug acyclovir combined with prednisone is possibly effective in improving facial function. Furthermore, injections into rat specimens with HSV have recreated facial paralysis in approximate 50% of specimens (Gok, Alpay et al. 1996 Allen and Dunn 2004 Allen and Dunn 2005). The evidence suggesting HSV as the major cause of this condition is demonstrated further by the success of specific antiviral agents which have shown continued success against HSV infections (Adour, Ruboyianes et al.
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Auricula acupuncture for influenza a trial#
Furuta (1998) discovered in his trial that HSV became undetectable after two weeks onset of Bell's palsy. The life span of the virus and the timing of testing for HSV may explain these conflicting conclusions. However, an opposing trial found HSV as well as VZV to be non-significantly represented in affected groups (Linder, Bossart et al. One study found that approximately 50% of Bell's palsy patients show signs of the virus compared to approximately 19% of the normal population (Furuta, Fukuda et al. 2004) of Bell's palsy patients at significantly higher rates than control groups. 1998) as well as muscle biopsy and tears (Kaygusuz, Godekmerdan et al. HSV has been observed in saliva (Furuta, Fukuda et al. The common cold sore virus, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and other herpes viruses are the likely cause of many cases of Bell's palsy. In addition to one-sided facial paralysis with possible inability to close the eye, symptoms of Bell's palsy may include pain, tearing, drooling, hypersensitivity to sound in the affected ear, and impairment of taste. It can strike almost anyone at any age however, it disproportionately attacks pregnant women and people who have diabetes, influenza, a cold, or some other upper respiratory ailment. This nerve disorder afflicts approximately 40,000 Americans each year. Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from damage to the VII (facial) cranial nerve.